JMMB’s Sagicor stake earns more than its own business – and worth more than the entire company

JMMB Group Limited’s investment in Sagicor Financial Company (SFC) earned the group more money in the June first quarter than its own banking and securities operations, even though earnings fluctuate over the years.

Additionally, its stake in SFC which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, continues to be worth more than JMMB’s entire market capitalisation on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE).

The group recognised a $3-billion share of profit from its roughly 24.5 per cent stake in the Toronto-listed SFC. That single contribution exceeded JMMB’s own net profit of $2.08 billion for the three months ended June 30, 2026.

The Sagicor earnings stream, however, fluctuates. A year earlier, JMMB associated companies, of which SFC dominates, recorded losses of $290.2 million, contributing to an overall $686-million loss for the group. But the scale of the current quarter’s contribution underscores how central the investment has become to JMMB’s financial performance.

JMMB’s shareholding in Sagicor Financial – valued at roughly CDN$289 million based on current prices on the Toronto Stock Exchange, or roughly $33 billion in Jamaican currency – exceeds JMMB’s own market capitalisation of approximately $28.4 billion on the JSE.

The implication is that investors are effectively assigning little to no value to JMMB’s own operations – a banking and securities business spanning Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic and Barbados that generated $7.68 billion in net operating revenue during the quarter.

“The group’s strategic investment in SFC continues to be a key contributor to overall group performance,” Group Chief Executive Officer Keith Duncan said in the financial report. JMMB added that the investment “reflects the underlying strength of Sagicor’s business and underscores the strategic value of the group’s diversified business model”.

In the 2026 financial year which ended in March, SFC earned $1 billion of the total $1.9 billion profit for the group in the financial year. And $2.84 billion of the group’s $3.7-billion profit in 2025. JMMB recorded the carrying value of its stake in SFC at $47.3 billion to March, compared to $46.6 billion a year earlier, according to its annual report.

Chief Financial Officer Patrick Ellis said the June quarter reflected “the continued strength of our core business and the benefits of our diversified regional model”. JMMB group’s capital stands at $63.5 billion on assets of $783.4 billion to June.

JMMB acquired the Sagicor stake in December 2019, paying US$250 million – then equivalent to roughly $34 billion – for 33.2 million shares through the Alignvest Acquisition II Corporation vehicle that took Sagicor public on the TSX. Duncan described the purchase at the time as giving JMMB a unique opportunity to participate in the growth of a market-leading insurance conglomerate. The investment was part of a stated strategy to double JMMB’s earnings over the medium term. The group financed the deal with a mixture of cash and debt, and secured two board seats at Sagicor, filled by Duncan and then Chairman Archibald Campbell. Nearly seven years later, the investment has arguably delivered on its earnings promise.

business@gleanerjm.com